Now that you've read PART 1, I'll share what I've been doing to lose weight, get fit, and be healthy since Boaz was born in September.
This wasn't some hardcore bootcamp diet that lasted 2 weeks.
I honestly changed my lifestyle.
I honestly changed my lifestyle.
But just to warn you... it's pretty basic stuff. If you're looking for something magical...this might seriously bore you.
On that thrilling note, let's begin:
On that thrilling note, let's begin:
Drinking water all day helps in digestion, flushing out toxins, and suppressing your appetite.
So basically it keeps your stomach from telling your brain that you should go bake 3 dozen White Chocolate Chip Muffins to go with your coffee at 11a.m.
Plus it keeps you going to the bathroom. Which is a good thing!
But you're smart, so I'll just stop there.
I have one of these handy dandy Camelbak water bottles that I keep refilling all day, which helps me a lot. They have them at Target and Walmart-go get one!
In Addition:
-I don't drink soda.
Or at least I rarely drink it. Like, maybe a couple times a year.
It's easy to think that when you're drinking something, it's not fattening...but Soda is like pure corn syrup mixed with some yummy addictive chemicals, so it's basically like having a dessert...that's eating your internal organs.
(So wouldn't you rather just have a brownie?)
If you're a daily soda drinker, just cutting that out of your diet alone, without doing nothing else to get healthy, will probably still make you lose weight.
But hey, it's your deal.
Hakuna Matata!
-I keep 100% Pure Cranberry Juice in the house that I love adding to my water for flavor and all those fabulous antioxidants. Also adding lemon to water is yummy, refreshing, and is ridiculously healthy for you in so many ways. Who knew!?
(You probably did.)
So basically it keeps your stomach from telling your brain that you should go bake 3 dozen White Chocolate Chip Muffins to go with your coffee at 11a.m.
Plus it keeps you going to the bathroom. Which is a good thing!
But you're smart, so I'll just stop there.
I have one of these handy dandy Camelbak water bottles that I keep refilling all day, which helps me a lot. They have them at Target and Walmart-go get one!
In Addition:
-I don't drink soda.
Or at least I rarely drink it. Like, maybe a couple times a year.
It's easy to think that when you're drinking something, it's not fattening...but Soda is like pure corn syrup mixed with some yummy addictive chemicals, so it's basically like having a dessert...that's eating your internal organs.
(So wouldn't you rather just have a brownie?)
If you're a daily soda drinker, just cutting that out of your diet alone, without doing nothing else to get healthy, will probably still make you lose weight.
But hey, it's your deal.
Hakuna Matata!
-I keep 100% Pure Cranberry Juice in the house that I love adding to my water for flavor and all those fabulous antioxidants. Also adding lemon to water is yummy, refreshing, and is ridiculously healthy for you in so many ways. Who knew!?
(You probably did.)
2.) I wake up and eat.
I'm not naturally a morning eater.
What's the point of breakfast when there's coffee?
Well once I found out that making yourself eat just a little bit in the morning gets your metabolism going which starts burning fat sooner, then I decided to suck it up and have a bowl of oatmeal or toast in the morning.
And THEN have my coffee.
A small price to pay for a big difference.
I'm not naturally a morning eater.
What's the point of breakfast when there's coffee?
Well once I found out that making yourself eat just a little bit in the morning gets your metabolism going which starts burning fat sooner, then I decided to suck it up and have a bowl of oatmeal or toast in the morning.
And THEN have my coffee.
A small price to pay for a big difference.
3.) I Put. Down. The Bread.
This one makes me cry.
I mean, really.. drinking water and eating breakfast is easy stuff.
But NOT having garlic bread for dinner?
NOT baking those 3 dozen muffins that I'll probably eat most of?
NOT making cookie dough EVERY SINGLE TIME I crave it at 9 o'clock at night?
(Which is approximately 4 times a week.)
This is the real battleground.
And I'll talk about that a little further down under Motivation.
But basically I try to keep it pretty low carb, by substituting veggies for things like bread and potatoes and chips.
Though I don't totally cut out carbs because I'm still active and breastfeeding and not a total masochist.
In Addition:
-I rarely ever eat potatoes anymore.
They're pretty fattening and I'm not passionate about them (like I am, for say..garlic bread) so they feel like a waste. Finding fattening foods that you regularly eat but that you don't even really enjoy all that much to cut out of your diet is always smart.
-I also use those 100 Calorie Sandwich Thins to make delicious burgers and chicken sandwiches with.
-I've stopped baking as much.
I love baking. Both as a hobby and out of reverence and loyalty to the other man in my life, Butter.
But I try to limit it so that I don't have to be removed from my house with a crane by the time I'm 30.
(Dear Butter, Please don't be mad. We just need to see other people. It's not you, it's me. Love, Fatty McFlabersons xoxo.)
This one makes me cry.
I mean, really.. drinking water and eating breakfast is easy stuff.
But NOT having garlic bread for dinner?
NOT baking those 3 dozen muffins that I'll probably eat most of?
NOT making cookie dough EVERY SINGLE TIME I crave it at 9 o'clock at night?
(Which is approximately 4 times a week.)
This is the real battleground.
And I'll talk about that a little further down under Motivation.
But basically I try to keep it pretty low carb, by substituting veggies for things like bread and potatoes and chips.
Though I don't totally cut out carbs because I'm still active and breastfeeding and not a total masochist.
In Addition:
-I rarely ever eat potatoes anymore.
They're pretty fattening and I'm not passionate about them (like I am, for say..garlic bread) so they feel like a waste. Finding fattening foods that you regularly eat but that you don't even really enjoy all that much to cut out of your diet is always smart.
-I also use those 100 Calorie Sandwich Thins to make delicious burgers and chicken sandwiches with.
-I've stopped baking as much.
I love baking. Both as a hobby and out of reverence and loyalty to the other man in my life, Butter.
But I try to limit it so that I don't have to be removed from my house with a crane by the time I'm 30.
(Dear Butter, Please don't be mad. We just need to see other people. It's not you, it's me. Love, Fatty McFlabersons xoxo.)
4.) I don't binge.
This is another important, but not so fun, big one... Portion Control.
I don't think I'll ever understand why God made it so that I can't eat a whole Papa Murphy's Pizza by myself every night and still look like Angelina Jolie... but I am pretty certain this is the Thorn In The Flesh that Paul wrote about.
(For any other spot-on answers to theological mysteries, feel free to contact me.)
Either way, we all have to go with the flow of life's great hardships and this is one of them.
So I try to keep how much I eat during the day to a respectable, non-binge-related-eating-disorder, amount.
Here is pretty much what my diet looks like on a normal/good day:
Breakfast: Small Bowl of Oatmeal or Bran Cereal, or Whole Wheat Toast
Coffee
Water
Water
Shot of Tequila (Kidding.)
More Water
Lunch(after workout): Protein Smoothie, made with protein powder, almond milk, frozen strawberries, 2 bananas, and spinach.
Water
Water
More Water
Snack: 1/4 cup of Almonds or Celery with Peanut Butter
Water
Dinner: (Varies)
Wine (Duh.)
Some days I forget to eat anything until 3p.m., and some days I eat nothing but cookies all day long.
(the second one being more likely.)
I'm not die hard and rigid about it, but when I stick as close to this as possible, I see the best results.
5.) I get off the flippin' couch.
Ok, well technically I'm sitting on the couch right now, writing this.
But since this last fall, I've been trying to stay good about Working Out 3-5 times a week, only for about 20-30 minutes each time.
I wrote about the Workout Video I've been using, and I'm still enjoying it so much.
I supplement it with some strength training, and I'm always happy with the outcome and that it doesn't take up my whole day.
I feel happier, more energetic, and just overall healthier when I work out at least a couple times a week.
Plus it keeps the heinous level of doughyness on my midsection at bay.
(Yikes.)
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But since this last fall, I've been trying to stay good about Working Out 3-5 times a week, only for about 20-30 minutes each time.
I wrote about the Workout Video I've been using, and I'm still enjoying it so much.
I supplement it with some strength training, and I'm always happy with the outcome and that it doesn't take up my whole day.
I feel happier, more energetic, and just overall healthier when I work out at least a couple times a week.
Plus it keeps the heinous level of doughyness on my midsection at bay.
(Yikes.)
6.) I keep myself motivated.
Ok people, honestly, this is the hardest one.
Every person is different in what motivates them and the key is to find what works for yourself.
Some people count calories, some people write down everything they eat in a day, some people like someone else to keep them accountable... everyone is unique in what is helpful to them.
I've never been a super skinny kinda gal, so I feel like I've tried a million different ways over the years to lose weight/motivate myself, some which worked and more that didn't.
The biggest thing that I've found about myself, personally, is that I'm driven by POSITIVITY.
That sounds a little cheeseball-motivational-speaker-ish, but let me elaborate:
1.) Encouragement keeps me going.
This might be a 'Duh' kind of point.
But when my husband or close friends ever say even little things like 'You're lookin' good!' or they drop the magic 'skinny' word, not only do I tearfully confess my undying love and devotion to them on the spot, but I feel proud that my work is paying off and I'm inspired to keep going.
So at the beginning of all this, I asked Luke to tell me when he notices changes, even little ones, to help me stick to it. And it's been a great support system.
2.) I don't own a scale.
Numbers are just numbers, and not only can they be deceiving, but they can become really unhealthy to focus on.
I maybe weight myself once every few months, and I usually do it randomly when I go into a bathroom at a friend's house and use theirs or something. That way, I have an idea of where I'm at but I don't keep up with every pound that I lose or gain on a daily/weekly basis, which I find to be more discouraging than not.
I can tell a difference in myself in how I look and fit into my clothes, which is more important anyway.
3.) I splurge. And I don't hate myself for it.
Here's the thing...I love food. I really, truly do.
And I really don't ever want to live in a world that doesn't allow me to enjoy chocolate cake.
In the past, when I would go on health/weight loss "kicks", so to speak, and at some point I gave into temptation and had chocolate, or say half of a pizza (totally hypothetical), I would feel like I had just thrown away all of my hard work and just give up.
So I make sure to not let myself think that crap anymore.
I eat cake and pancakes and pizza (sometimes all in one day!), and I TOTALLY enjoy it.
But then the next day or week.. I get up and keep going.
I work out. I drink my smoothies. I have a kick-butt salad for dinner.
And then I do it all over again.
I make sure to fight discouragement from myself by not making this some 2-week "kick" that I cannot break under any circumstance or everything will fall apart.
So instead of being unhealthy most of the time with occasions of being healthy, it's the opposite.
I live a pretty healthy life now, and occasionally splurging is part of it.
In Addition:
-I have found that Pinterest can be an awesome motivational tool!
Some days when my little munchkins are FINALLY napping (and at the same time!) after a whole morning of whining and pooping and them giving each other high-fives in the face, all I want to do is lay on the couch and watch the latest episodes of Nashville and not think about anything.
And heck, half the time-I DO do that!
But on the days when I know I need to push through and work out, sometimes perusing through the Health and Fitness section on Pinterest for a couple minutes gives me a jump start I need to get my butt off the the flippin' couch.
-I also follow some Weight Loss/Health Nut Bloggers!
One of the biggest inspirations through this whole process of mine has been a blogger named Mama Laughlin. She has such a fun and down-to-earth blog about her postpartum weight loss (losing like 60 pounds!), and reading her posts and following her on Instagram always gives me such incentive and drive to keep going.
SO positive. And SO encouraging.
~~~
Well people, like I said, not very groundbreaking stuff.
But being diligent with these few things have really payed off for me.
So far I'm 25 pounds lighter than I was this last October, and so thankful to be feeling comfortable in my clothes and my own skin again.
Well ok, right now my clothes and skin both have spit-up, urine, and applesauce on them... but other than that, I'm pretty comfortable.
One step at a time, right?
Ok people, honestly, this is the hardest one.
Every person is different in what motivates them and the key is to find what works for yourself.
Some people count calories, some people write down everything they eat in a day, some people like someone else to keep them accountable... everyone is unique in what is helpful to them.
I've never been a super skinny kinda gal, so I feel like I've tried a million different ways over the years to lose weight/motivate myself, some which worked and more that didn't.
The biggest thing that I've found about myself, personally, is that I'm driven by POSITIVITY.
That sounds a little cheeseball-motivational-speaker-ish, but let me elaborate:
1.) Encouragement keeps me going.
This might be a 'Duh' kind of point.
But when my husband or close friends ever say even little things like 'You're lookin' good!' or they drop the magic 'skinny' word, not only do I tearfully confess my undying love and devotion to them on the spot, but I feel proud that my work is paying off and I'm inspired to keep going.
So at the beginning of all this, I asked Luke to tell me when he notices changes, even little ones, to help me stick to it. And it's been a great support system.
2.) I don't own a scale.
Numbers are just numbers, and not only can they be deceiving, but they can become really unhealthy to focus on.
I maybe weight myself once every few months, and I usually do it randomly when I go into a bathroom at a friend's house and use theirs or something. That way, I have an idea of where I'm at but I don't keep up with every pound that I lose or gain on a daily/weekly basis, which I find to be more discouraging than not.
I can tell a difference in myself in how I look and fit into my clothes, which is more important anyway.
3.) I splurge. And I don't hate myself for it.
Here's the thing...I love food. I really, truly do.
And I really don't ever want to live in a world that doesn't allow me to enjoy chocolate cake.
In the past, when I would go on health/weight loss "kicks", so to speak, and at some point I gave into temptation and had chocolate, or say half of a pizza (totally hypothetical), I would feel like I had just thrown away all of my hard work and just give up.
So I make sure to not let myself think that crap anymore.
I eat cake and pancakes and pizza (sometimes all in one day!), and I TOTALLY enjoy it.
But then the next day or week.. I get up and keep going.
I work out. I drink my smoothies. I have a kick-butt salad for dinner.
And then I do it all over again.
I make sure to fight discouragement from myself by not making this some 2-week "kick" that I cannot break under any circumstance or everything will fall apart.
So instead of being unhealthy most of the time with occasions of being healthy, it's the opposite.
I live a pretty healthy life now, and occasionally splurging is part of it.
In Addition:
-I have found that Pinterest can be an awesome motivational tool!
Some days when my little munchkins are FINALLY napping (and at the same time!) after a whole morning of whining and pooping and them giving each other high-fives in the face, all I want to do is lay on the couch and watch the latest episodes of Nashville and not think about anything.
And heck, half the time-I DO do that!
But on the days when I know I need to push through and work out, sometimes perusing through the Health and Fitness section on Pinterest for a couple minutes gives me a jump start I need to get my butt off the the flippin' couch.
-I also follow some Weight Loss/Health Nut Bloggers!
One of the biggest inspirations through this whole process of mine has been a blogger named Mama Laughlin. She has such a fun and down-to-earth blog about her postpartum weight loss (losing like 60 pounds!), and reading her posts and following her on Instagram always gives me such incentive and drive to keep going.
SO positive. And SO encouraging.
~~~
Well people, like I said, not very groundbreaking stuff.
But being diligent with these few things have really payed off for me.
So far I'm 25 pounds lighter than I was this last October, and so thankful to be feeling comfortable in my clothes and my own skin again.
Well ok, right now my clothes and skin both have spit-up, urine, and applesauce on them... but other than that, I'm pretty comfortable.
One step at a time, right?
Hi Elise,
ReplyDeleteWonderful, informative, and candid post! You make losing weight sound fun and attainable. I *almost* wish I had a weight problem just so I could be even more inspired by you. ;)